Can a traditional bow be too old to shoot?

[Rangeball]

My grandfather just gave me 3 traditional recurves, a matched husband and wife set crafted by a local guy over 100 years ago that he bought when he was 17 (he' s 87 now), and another. Unfortunately, the " wife" bow (smaller than the " husband" ) and the other bow were dry fired somewhere along the line and suffered limb cracks, but the " husband" bow appears to be in great shape.

All bows have been on a bow rack in my Grandpa' s finished basement for the last 40 years. I' d love to shoot the " husband" bow, but am scared to death of doing so, as I don' t want to hurt it. I' m thinking I' m better off simply displaying it in my office.

So my questions are-

1- Is the " husband" bow safe to shoot?

2- Is there anyway to repair cracked limbed bows so they can be used again?

[Arthur P]

They' ve actually been able to shoot a couple of bows recovered from the wreck of the Mary Rose, King Henry VIII' s flagship that sunk in 1545. It' s not the age, it' s how the bow was made, how badly the wood has been treated, and whether it' s been allowed to dry out too much. Dry rot is just as bad as damp rot.

So, the husband bow ' might' be safe to shoot. It might also blow into a thousand pieces if you tried to string it. If it' s got any laminations on it, forget it. I wouldn' t trust glue that' s that old. If it' s a selfbow, and the finish is intact, then maybe....

If you can get a string on it, you sure don' t want to rip it all the way back to full draw. You have to slowly get the limbs used to bending again. ' Exercise' the limbs by drawing 1/4 way about a dozen times, then let the bow rest for a day or two. Then draw 1/4 way about a dozen times, then halfway about a dozen times, then let the bow rest for a day or two. Keep doing that, going a little further every couple of days, until you get it to full draw.

Be sure to listen for any cracking while you' re doing this. If you hear any, then hang the bow up and ejoy looking at it.

Frankly, it' d be a lot safer to use the husband bow for a pattern to make a new bow, and not risk destroying a piece of archery history.

[Rangeball]

Art, that' s what I was thinking. Why take the chance? It' s gonna go on my wall.

My brother has a modern day recurve that he' s shot maybe 30 times that' s just sitting in his gun case. I think I' m gonna borrow it. I' m getting a pretty good itch to shoot traditional again. I used to be a pretty fair shot, we' ll see if it' s like riding a bike